Looking to buy a lift for the shop.

[59meteor]

I want to get a 2 post hoist/lift for my garage. Just wondering if anybody has any recommendations of a 8000-9000 pound lift for a home garage. It will not be used daily as in a commercial shop, so a top end hoist like a Rotary is not in the budget. So far looking at Atlas,Forward,Peak, and Challenger hoists, which I believe are all made offshore. Hoping to be no more than $4000. before taxes. Also, my ceiling height is 11 feet, so it seems that I will be limited to a floor plate model, with the cables between the towers running above the floor. Not my preference, but it seems the clear floor models need at least 12 feet of ceiling height. Too old to be crawling under cars any more!

[gasman826]

Cut the ceiling and stand it up between the trusses.  Box the ceiling back in after the hoist installation.  If you're too old to crawl under a car, you're too old to trip over the floor cables.  I bought a knock-off 10K asymmetrical more than 12 years ago...best $1500 tool I ever bought.  I've installed it in two different shops.  If I was in auto business, I wouldn't buy a knock-off but in a home garage, I'll never wear it out.  I built the current shop with finished ceiling at 12'-2".  If I hadn't got the design past the zoning police, the posts would have been stuck through the ceiling.

[wv 57s forever]

I love my 4post lift great for everything just a little more work for taking off tires. no worry about cables or hooking to floor just sits there.     

[CobraJoe]

I have 4 lifts, 2 twin post and two 4 posts. I have a Challenger, a Forward, a Mohawk and a name I can't remember. The two best that I own, IMO, are the Forward & the Mohawk.
Your mileage may vary....

[59meteor]

I love my 4post lift great for everything just a little more work for taking off tires. no worry about cables or hooking to floor just sits there.     

I don`t really want a 4 post. Having used 4 post, 2 post, single and 2 cylinder in ground, as well as a full height scissor lift, during my years as a dealership mechanic, they all have their pluses and minuses, depending on the task at hand. For me, my main use would be for suspension/brake type work, and re & reing transmissions and rearends, 4 post decks are so wide that the narrow opening between the sides is too narrow, for comfortable working with a transmission jack, and in the way of dropping exhaust, and for a rearend swap or front suspension work, the deck gets in the way.
i really don`t want to modify my ceiling, as it is all nicely drywalled and painted.

[lowrider]

I have a 2 post Challenger hoist in my garage. Don't recall the capacity now but it was a bit much for home use. I've had it about 8yrs and don't regret my choice. I believe it cost a little north of 3600$ plus I paid to have it installed. Most of my friends/neighbors here are older like myself so it would have been a struggle to install it myself. As it was the two guys had their hands full raising the posts. I have 25x40 metal "Quonset hut" type building. The posts were close to 13ft and they just barely fit under the ceiling.

[RICH MUISE]

Lift would be wonderful, but I'd be very happy with just an open pit like in oil change shops. When I was a kid growing up, an old gas station in town had one outside that was no longer used by whatever business that was in there at the time. They use to let us kids use it to work on our cars. Wouldn't happen nowadays.
I'm curious if anyone knows if someone has done that for a normal attached garage with an 8'+ ceiling.

[mustang6984]

My personal recommendation would be a 4-post. Simple reason...you live in Surrey...and every now and then Mother Nature likes to move things around. Would suck eggs big time to go out after a ground shaker and find the car on the deck...just sayin'.

I have one I have been looking at...but the paper work in in MO...and I am still in WA...though not for much longer...getting closer day by day...that elephant...is slowly getting eaten. All the shop stuff should be packed by Monday...(WOW do I have a lot of stuff!) and then hoping to see car haulers by Tuesday...Wednesday at the latest. That puts me east bound no later than Thursday!!!

[JRD007]

Hi there, my 2 cents. Go for the 4 post, yes they take up more room but for the simple fact that they are safe. Sold 2 and 4 post hoists for years never had a car fall off a 4 post , lots on 2 posts. Get the rolling jacks and your good to go. If your like me I?m always by myself working on theses cars so pulling or lifting isn?t a worry. It?s also nice that you build everything at ride height. Plus a 2nd spot to park another car.   Cheers John

[59meteor]

My personal recommendation would be a 4-post. Simple reason...you live in Surrey...and every now and then Mother Nature likes to move things around. Would suck eggs big time to go out after a ground shaker and find the car on the deck...just sayin'.

I have one I have been looking at...but the paper work in in MO...and I am still in WA...though not for much longer...getting closer day by day...that elephant...is slowly getting eaten. All the shop stuff should be packed by Monday...(WOW do I have a lot of stuff!) and then hoping to see car haulers by Tuesday...Wednesday at the latest. That puts me east bound no later than Thursday!!!

Actually, we have been on the East Coast of Canada (Nova Scotia), since mid October. After making that 4000 mile one way trip ONCE, I don`t know how you could do a similar journey multiple times!

[59meteor]

Hi there, my 2 cents. Go for the 4 post, yes they take up more room but for the simple fact that they are safe. Sold 2 and 4 post hoists for years never had a car fall off a 4 post , lots on 2 posts. Get the rolling jacks and your good to go. If your like me I?m always by myself working on theses cars so pulling or lifting isn?t a worry. It?s also nice that you build everything at ride height. Plus a 2nd spot to park another car.   Cheers John

No, a 4 post just won`t work for me. Having used all varieties of hoists during my 40 year stint as an automotive mechanic, I want nothing but a 2 post. I don`t need the extra parking space, and don`t want the hoist taking up so much room all the time. Even with the rolling jacks,  underneath space is restricted by the width of the decks. Yes,I have seen a couple of cars fall off a 2 post, but never when properly set up on the pads. Having used many different lift syles, I want the "wide open" accessability that a 2 post provides. I will be doing more transmission,clutch, rearend, & suspension  related work, a 4 post is too cumbersome for that.

[gasman826]

X2 on the 4 post being too cumbersome.  I used a 'drive on' lift for alignments and spin balancing.  If repairs were required, I would move to a side 2 post, in ground.  The best all round hoist.  One minor draw back was the equalizer shaft cover plate (even though flush with the concrete) would sometimes make the transmission jack hesitate...just enough to give a good start once in a while.  The next best is the above ground side, 2 post with the equalizing cables overhead.  Any hoist is better than no hoist.  All hoists have pro's and con's.  I don't like my hoist when doing body work on the sides or some service that requires an open door.  No one has mentioned the single post hoist (LINK below).  My son bought one and if I was to buy a second hoist, it would be one of these.  Use it and when done, move it back in the corner.  If doing body work, the whole side is open.  As far as quake zones, I would never leave any vehicle stored on a hoist of any kind.

https://www.jegs.com/i/Turk+Bros./905/MSC-6KLP/10002/-1?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI4YSbi4Gh7gIVCb7ACh1KIwXwEAQYBiABEgI8rvD_BwE

[FiveSevenLiter]

My brother put a pit in his shop, not long after a hot rodder on Vancouver Island succumbed to fumes and that scared my brother.  Became a great hiding spot for parts for his race car that his wife never found out about.
Terry

[mustang6984]

Actually, we have been on the East Coast of Canada (Nova Scotia), since mid October. After making that 4000 mile one way trip ONCE, I don`t know how you could do a similar journey multiple times!

Oh yea...I forgot you moved..my bad. And your box on the right still says Surrey...so given my mush memory and that...yea...I forgot...LOL!!!

Well I am using I-40 for most of the winter trip...so I'll avoid a lot of snow. But I bought the apartment building in March of '08...and that year alone made the trip 4 times. I don't mind driving to be honest...but I can assure you all the other garbage I have had to deal with during this move has taxed my patience, obviously my health and my overall sanity. I have not gotten mad, let alone lost my temper in a LONG time...well over 10 years...and that has gone by the wayside. Even being as short of breathing ability as I am I have had enough of  rude and obnoxious people...and I yesterday realized I need to go back to my more calm self after a seriously uncooperative truck driver set me off when he delivered a semi-trailer. Took me 2 hours to get my breathing back under control. How he has a job is beyond me or my loading crew.

So...the drive...will be peaceful and relaxing.

[Ford Blue blood]

Hugh not too sure the move is the primary cause for the loss of patience......as the years pass by I find myself re-visiting a person or place to apologize for being there the first time.......